United Nations 2010 Public Service Award

The National Blood Authority is delighted to announce that it has won the 2010 United Nations Public Service Award in the category of advancing knowledge management in government. The United Nations Public Service Awards are “the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service”. The aim of this annual award is to promote the role, professionalism and visibility of public services worldwide. The NBA will accept our award at the Public Service Day Awards in Barcelona on June 23 2010.

The NBA’s winning submission outlined how a small agency with limited resources has built a sustainable private and civil knowledge network which has supported and enabled the acquisition of knowledge in a cost effective manner and built organisation capability. The NBA was able to demonstrate how this knowledge network benefits citizens through a more secure supply of high quality safe blood products, improved value for money, more choice for patients and improvements in the appropriate use of products.

The knowledge network is part of the NBA’s comprehensive corporate capability strategy. This strategy identified that NBA needed to develop capabilities in six key areas i.e.

consolidating the quality and volume of knowledge available to the NBA through its private and civic knowledge networks;
enabling staff to apply processes and knowledge;
enhancing our engagement with citizens and stakeholders;
increasing the capacity to adapt and develop the organization;
refining business systems and processes; and
improving our capacity to manage and measure performance

The NBA’s strategy was to access and utilize in a sustainable way the knowledge that already existed in the private and civil sectors. Key to this was to minimise our risks through the development of multiple sources of knowledge and forming alliances with people working in relevant areas including clinicians, patient user groups and business analysts. Developing the knowledge of NBA staff was also a key priority.

The NBA’s work strongly aligns with the recommendations in the Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration. In particular recommendations around engaging citizens in program design, incorporating non- government expertise, strengthening workforce development and ensuring agency agility, capability and effectiveness, have all been key elements contributing to NBA’s success.

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